


A Mermaid Tale

by Nutriyum_Addict



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bathtub Sex, Bathtubs, Bedroom Sex, Childhood Memories, Couch Cuddles, Drunken Confessions, Drunken Kissing, Drunkenness, F/M, Folklore, Interspecies Sex, Love at First Sight, Magical Realism, Romantic Gestures, Secrets, Soulmates, Supernatural Elements, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-03
Updated: 2017-03-15
Packaged: 2018-09-27 17:49:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10036994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutriyum_Addict/pseuds/Nutriyum_Addict
Summary: Professor Ben Wyatt comes to Pawnee to research mermaid folklore. He doesn't expect to fall in love with an actual mermaid--especially one that he has a deep connection to from his childhood.It's kind of aSplashAU (but not completely).





	1. I'm not looking for mermaids.

**Author's Note:**

> For the utterly wonderful fic prompt: Ben is a professor who has come to Pawnee to research some strange phenomenon. Maybe history-related or whatever you want it to be. The only person in town who gives him any help - lots more than he even thinks to ask for - is the Deputy Director of Parks and Rec.
> 
> Marking as Mature for now, but it will probably change to Explicit ;-)

Look, he knows his obsession is kind of weird.

Well, wait, no. It's not really an obsession. It's more like an interest. A very strong professional interest. In mermaids.

Alright, fine, it's kind of weird.

But Ben Wyatt isn't some _Weekly World News_ -reading crackpot--nope. He's a Professor of Maritime History & Folklore at Indiana University and everything. He even minored in Marine Biology way back when he was an undergrad, so he knows that the ocean (as well as rivers and lakes and even ponds) are pretty amazing places, ecosystem-wise.

If there are giant squid and gray whales and rainbow trout, why is it so hard to imagine that people throughout the ages have almost always claimed to have seen beautiful half-fish women in the murky depths as well?

And if you fall in the water and they swim over to you and hold your hand, deep down, how can you not want to believe it?

* * * * *

**Duluth, Minnesota 1982**

Seven-year-old Ben's parents are fighting. Again.

The whole family is on a boat, a sightseeing cruise with some relatives up in Duluth and of course Steve and Julia Wyatt are glaring and heatedly whispering at each other right by the fancy display of shrimp cocktails lined up along the buffet table. It's not as loud as they usually get, but it's fairly clear that they're arguing.

Ben is hiding from everyone and his ten-year-old brother Henry is off doing who knows what. The last Ben saw him, he was dropping his Star Wars action figures on the ground and laughing while getting down low by all the adults' feet to scoop them back up. And Stephanie is crying and carrying on in his mother's arms, all while his parents fight away.

Everyone is ignoring little Benji.

He's under a table out on the deck when something out in the water catches his eye. It's a shimmer and then a definite sparkle in the calm water and then...a little blonde head pops up. He smiles at the girl around his age and she smiles back.

She has a big shell necklace around her neck and her eyes are bright blue. Her hair is golden like the sun.

Without even realizing what he's doing, Ben walks over to the railing to get a closer look. He just wants to see her better and he's also very curious as to why there's a girl out in the water. Maybe he should get an adult for help but then she grins at him again and her tail flips up out of the water and Ben finds that he can just fit through the gap in the bars of the railing.

He's still smiling when he hits the cold Lake Superior water below.

* * * * *

**Pawnee, Indiana 2010**

It's a sunny day, so he's wearing his Ray-Bans as he pulls his Saturn into an empty spot in front of City Hall.

Ben is in Pawnee because he has a google alert set for _mermaids_ and _the great lakes_. It doesn't come up with anything all that often, but there have been a handful of mentions about Lake Pawnee of all places over the last few years.

He's also in Pawnee because last month his girlfriend Victoria moved out of their shared two-bedroom, two-bath condo overlooking Lake Monroe on the outskirts of Bloomington. She left him because he didn't love her, which still seems massively unfair to Ben. He really wanted to love her. He really tried to love her. Ben just...didn't. Couldn't.

Victoria moved out while he was at work and when he got home it was just him and his fish tanks and about half of the furniture. She'd even taken the fancy blender that they had bought together. So, now seemed like the perfect time to gather up and organize his email folder full of google alerts, bang out a proposal, and try to get approved for a sabbatical from his Assistant Professor position at IU.

At first, he was thinking scholarly article, maybe something he could submit to _The Journal of American Folklore_ but then he figured--no. Think bigger. Think book. That would almost assure his tenure.

And of course, the first step in any book is fieldwork and research. It was the closest location from Bloomington, so he's here in Pawnee on this sunny Monday in May to collect data and all the details on possible mermaid sightings in this corner of the Hoosier State. He also plans to visit Kewaunee, Wisconsin, Mackinac Island, Michigan, and Duluth, Minnesota later in the month.

But for convenience sake, southwestern Indiana is his first stop. Pawnee is definitely unique in that it's not even on one of the Great Lakes. No, any reported sightings here over the years have happened on Lake Pawnee--a deep freshwater 10,750-acre body of water in Wamapoke County, with inflow and outflow sources at Deer Creek.

Once inside the City Hall building, after a somewhat scary and confusing trip up to the fourth floor, he eventually gets sent back downstairs to the first floor and to the Parks and Recreation Department.

A sightly imposing and unsmiling man with a full mustache ignores him when he tries to ask questions but then Ben is introduced to a pretty and petite blonde--the Deputy Director of the department. She stares at him intently as she reaches forward to shake his hand. Her skin is warm and soft and for some reason, Ben finds himself wanting to not let go of her hand at all. But, he does and they end up in a conference room and even though a strange girl with dark hair keeps staring at him menacingly through the glass, Ben turns all of his focus to Leslie Knope.

"I'm really just looking for some preliminary information on Lake Pawnee," he explains.

"Lake Pawnee? And mermaids?"

Ben nods, opening his laptop.

"Oh," she scoffs, making a face. "You aren't interested in Lake Pawnee!"

He looks up, slightly puzzled. "I'm not?"

"No. There are no mermaids there--"

"Okay, I feel like I need to mention again that I know that there are no _actual_ mermaids. I'm not looking for mermaids. I'm looking for _talk_ of mermaids. I'm documenting the occurrences of mermaid folklore. Legends. Oral history. That sort of thing."

"Right. But still. Lake Pawnee is a complete dead-end. You want to see, uh, the Eagleton Reservoir. Yeah. The Eagleton Reservoir. That's where everyone in town always talks about when they talk about mermaids. We have the best waffles at JJ's Diner here in Pawnee and over there, they have all the weirdo mermaid sightings. Ask anyone! Ron? Ron!" She cranes her neck to look out into the work area. "Well, Ron doesn't care. But if he did, he'd say the same thing."

Despite the odd start to his project, Ben smiles. And when Leslie smiles back at him, Ben feels himself instinctively scooting closer to the table in his chair.

"How about this?" she suggests. "I can stop working early at five-thirty today. Why don't you come back here then and I can give you the tour."

"Of Lake Pawnee?"

"No, Ben," she chides him lightly. "The Eagleton Reservoir! Oh, well, we can start here at City Hall because that's where all official tours should begin but then we can go look at the reservoir and finish up with waffles at JJ's back here in Pawnee, a much better town. For everything," Leslie pauses. "Except mermaid sightings."

"Alright." He agrees with a laugh because, well, he finds himself wanting to spend more time with her for some reason. He's always had a thing for blondes with blue eyes, plus she does seem to know an awful lot about the area.

She'll no doubt be a great resource for his research.


	2. From there it's all lips and tongues and friendly, wandering hands.

**Duluth, Minnesota 1982**

The water isn't cold. It isn't warm either, but it isn't chilling his small body like it should be in March. It's just...surrounding him like he's floating underwater. And then the little girl is right next to him and she has his small hands in hers and everything is fine.

The water seems clear and inviting now and Ben can see fish and rocks and his new friend's small golden tail, swooshing and gliding gently through the currents.

He'd always been so scared of open water but right now, he doesn't understand what he was so afraid of. It's not like he even has to breathe down here.

  
**Pawnee, Indiana 2010**

On the way to the reservoir and after a tour of City Hall's unique murals, Ben learns that Leslie majored in History at IU. She's been working at the Parks Department for about seven years and that she also really loves Pawnee. A lot.

It's cute. She's cute. And he still finds himself inexplicably drawn to her. He doesn't think that he's ever met a more passionate and enthusiastic person, whether she's asking someone to file an environmental impact statement at the end of the day or she's giving Ben all the details about a mural with a very inappropriate name-- _A Lively Fisting_. What?

Once they're at the park, Ben is about to suggest that they head to a gelato stand ahead in the distance when she suddenly turns serious and places her hand on his arm.

"Okay, I need to warn you about something."

Ben stops walking along Five Mile Ground's many scenic pathways and turns towards her. At a little after six pm, it's still sunny and plenty of people are out and enjoying the area around the Eagleton Reservoir.

He gives her a cautious smile. "Yeah? Is something wrong?"

"Well, I'm not being melodramatic when I say that people from Eagleton are snobby and evil, and they look down on Pawnee, and they would most likely exterminate everyone who isn't from Eagleton if they weren't so busy being obsessed with themselves," Leslie finishes her rant with a big gulp of air and a quiet, "whew," under her breath.

Ben frowns at her words and looks around again. Luckily, her mural tour earlier filled him in a little on what must be a pretty heated Pawnee and Eagleton rivalry, but still, her warning is a bit unexpected.

The people in question are reading books on the grass and playing frisbee and there's even a balloon animal artist under a big palm tree. And of course, there's the gelato stand that he's still fairly interested in, all of this occurring while the sun sparkles off the reservoir up ahead.

Eagleton doesn't look evil and it really doesn't seem like anyone here wants to commit genocide.

"Okay," he says slowly.

"Just watch yourself. We'll go over to that bridge so we can look at the reservoir. We'll get in and out of this hoity-toity hellhole quickly and I think we'll be okay."

"I...uh..." Ben doesn't even know how to finish his sentence. He lets Leslie grab his hand and lead him to the quaint looking pedestrian bridge over the water.

When they get to the edge he tentatively peers over the side. The reservoir is about a ten-foot drop below and he's not sure how deep it is since all of his preliminary research was about Lake Pawnee.

She eyes him with some concern. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, well, this is kind of silly, but I don't know how to swim. Open water makes me a little nervous."

"Still?"

He turns to look at her. "Huh? What do you mean _still_?"

Leslie's eyes widen for a brief second, but then she seems to try and relax into a carefree expression--she's moderately successful. "Oh, nothing. _Still._ You know, I wish there was a still here. I could go for some gin. And tonic. That's what I meant. So, you don't know how to swim, that's kind of odd for someone who studies maritime history and folklore, isn't it? Odd. It's odd. Not knowing how to swim."

He nods agreeably, chalking her choice of wording up to...well, he's not quite sure. But he decides to move on. "Yeah, I know. I guess it's not so much the not knowing how to swim, but the not wanting to drown."

"Yeah," Leslie responds and they enjoy the view for a couple of minutes.

Ben almost catches himself trying to reach for her hand. Why does he want to touch her so badly?

"Mermaids," Leslie says after a minute or two of comfortable silence. "I thought they were all in the ocean. Or well, the people who claim to have seen them were in the ocean."

"Yeah, a lot are. Most, but there have always been sightings around lakes and rivers in America too. So I guess I should say _limnologic_ folklore. Limnology is the--"

"Study of inland waters like lakes, ponds, rivers, springs, streams, and wetlands," Leslie finishes for him. "I know."

He's not used to people outside of his academic sphere knowing that off the top of their heads, so Ben just nods at her, even as he starts to smile again.

Leslie smiles back and Ben loses his train of thought altogether.

"Uh, yeah. Oh, have you ever heard of the SS G.P Griffith?" Ben gets it together enough to ask, as they continue to switch between gazing out at the water and grinning at each other.

"No."

The sun is hitting the strands of her light blonde hair in a way that's almost impossible to take his eyes off of.

"Um, it was a passenger steamer ship that sank on Lake Erie in 1850. There were a couple of survivor accounts that mentioned a mermaid swimming around the bow before the ship went down. That somehow, she caused the wreck."

"Wow," Leslie comments with a raise of her eyebrow. "That sounds a bit extreme. A mermaid caused a whole ship to sink?"

"Yeah. I mean, there are a handful of Great Lakes shipwrecks that have a story like that attached to them, but it's mainly a sighting here or there. Especially in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.You know, a drowning sailor. A seductive siren that lures a man to a watery grave. All of that."

"But you don't believe that sort of thing?"

"No. Of course not, they're just stories, lore. A way to explain the unexplainable, when bad things happen. I'd even be willing to bet that a lot of the historic sightings are tied to rampant misogyny, kind of like the witch trials in early modern Europe."

"Huh," she looks thoughtfully out over the water again. "Well, this here is ground zero in these parts for any mermaid sightings recently. Not Lake Pawnee. Right here. In snooty and horrible Eagleton."

Ben turns and looks out at the water one more time.

The sun is starting to set and the air is cool but pleasant and the palm trees are lightly swaying in the breeze. He's a little perplexed as to why there are palm trees in Indiana, but he's having a nice time talking to Leslie, so he's not going to question that anomaly right now.

Instead, he says, "Alright. Well, it is pretty here."

"I guess. If you like this sort of thing," she says, making a face.

* * * * *

It's after their trip to Eagleton that Leslie eats two orders of waffles at JJ's Diner, one right after the other, while Ben works through his one turkey club sandwich. She digs right in and for some reason, the waitress knows to bring her another plate when she finishes the first one.

Much to his surprise, Ben finds the whole situation super sexy. He feels, well, sitting here in JJ's, he feels himself becoming smitten with her. Even when the people at the table next to their booth watch in surprise as she starts in on her second order, the whipped cream piled high on top.

He just turns to them and explains, "she's _really_ hungry."

Then they laugh in their booth and she feeds him a bite across the table with extra whipped cream on it.

Back in her car after they finish their meal, Ben is in the process of fastening his seat belt when she asks, "So, where are you staying?"

"Oh, the Pawnee Super Suites."

"I can give you a ride--"

"My car's back at City Hall, so, we should probably go there."

"Right," Leslie nods, turning the key in the ignition. "Good plan. Or..."

"Or?"

"Or we could go get your car and you could follow me back to my place. I think I have a documentary about shipwrecks of the Great Lakes narrated by Leonard Nimoy. I haven't watched it yet, but maybe you'd be into it?" She raises her eyebrow playfully at him.

Ben blinks. "Are you serious?"

Leslie nods and sure, she kind of looks like she's trying not to break out in a loud cackle at his apparent dorkiness, but how can he resist this offer? Even if she's making fun of him a tiny bit.

"Alright. We seriously need to do that," he tells her, smiling again. Ben doesn't think he's ever smiled this much. Or had this much fun on a date.

Wait. Is this a date?

Leslie is grinning too and they're both kind of inching closer to each other and he's pretty sure they're going to kiss (which would definitely make it a date), but then she stops suddenly.

"Oh!"

"What?"

"Crap on a crustacean, I forgot to put a report in an interoffice mailer before I left."

"Oh. Is that something you can do tomor--"

"It's fine, we'll run inside real quick and I can pop it up to the fourth floor, I can even show you the one more mural up there, _Eating the Reverend_. It'll just take a minute or two."

"The fourth floor?" Ben asks with a shudder. "In City Hall? _Eating the Reverend_?"

"You've heard of it?" she asks, backing her car out of JJ's parking lot.

He's not sure of she's talking about the fourth floor or the mural. He guesses the floor? "No. Well, I was up there today. When I first got here. The city's Water Department is up there, I thought they handled Lake Pawnee at first but--"

"Oh, no. It's us. And I'm so sorry you were exposed to the fourth floor today, Ben. I know that can be traumatic. Are you okay?"

He holds in a laugh at her serious expression. "Yeah. I think I'll be okay."

They get back to the government lot and Leslie parks her car right next to his blue Saturn. She uses her badge to easily get them inside the building after hours and they continue to make silly, dopey faces at each other as they wait for the elevator. There's like this fun tension, Ben thinks, as they stand there, a flirty, exciting, sexual tension that's just waiting to bubble over.

The little bell dings and the door opens and they step in inside, Leslie going in first, while he follows and can't help but notice how her black pants hug the delightfully round curves of her ass.

Ben is about to push the button for the fourth floor on the panel inside the door, but then Leslie seems to have other ideas. She must have noticed the sexual tension too because she pushes herself up against him and presses her lips to his and it's all Ben can do to grab onto her and tug her even closer, even as his back hits the wall of the elevator.

From there it's all lips and tongues and friendly, wandering hands.

* * * * *

They don't actually do it in the elevator.

He and Leslie certainly make out in the elevator, complete with heated groping and lots of kissing, but they manage to make it up to the fourth floor. Eventually. Although after the elevator, Ben has an unfortunate and slightly awkward boner while Leslie showed him _Eating the Reverend_.

Afterwards, he finds her house is filled with bookshelves and photographs and plenty of knick-knacks, stopping short of cluttered. She pours some wine and they settle in to watch her documentary on Great Lakes shipwrecks.

They just do some of that without all of their clothes on.

Sitting side by side on her sofa leads to snuggling which leads to frequent kiss breaks, which leads to Ben's fingers playing with the button of Leslie's pants for a few minutes, while Leonard Nimoy describes the sad fate of the Lottie Wolf on Lake Michigan.

She hits pause for a moment on the remote and undoes the button herself and their fingers work together getting her zipper down. Her panties have little purple starfish on them, a detail he can't stop thinking about even after they start watching the documentary again, cuddled up, both of them in various states of undress.

"Well, that was fascinating," Ben comments half and hour later, pushing some of her hair out of the way so he can kiss her skin, a soft little patch right below her ear. The credits are still scrolling by and normally he'd be much more into watching all of them, but right now he's on a couch with a very sexy city government employee who isn't wearing pants.

"Mmmmhmm," she's got his plaid shirt pushed to the side and she's licking his shoulder. When she teases him with her teeth, it feels so good Ben moans.

"So, um...." He loses his train of thought when her hand slips inside his boxer-briefs. He was about to wonder out loud if he should head back to the Super Suites--his sensible nature thinks that this is happening _very_ fast, and that maybe they should kiss goodnight and meet for lunch tomorrow?--but now he thinks that Leslie has something more in mind.

He's excited of course, but Ben also feels a little bit out of practice. It's been three years since he's been with anyone other than his girlfriend. Wait. Nope, his _ex-girlfriend_. He's not necessarily out of practice with sex (although it has been months, it's not like Victoria moving out had been a huge surprise), but he's definitely a little out of practice at sleeping with someone new.

"You're staying over, right?" She whispers, her thumb brushing across the head of his cock in a way that makes him shudder. "Because I really think we should go upstairs now. To my bedroom."

"Yeah. Yeah. We should do that."

The trip up her stairs is a bit challenging, mainly because Ben can barely keep his mouth off of hers, and that makes it hard to see where he's going. By the time they make it to the second floor, Leslie's checkered blouse is unbuttoned and her bra is unclasped, and he's thumbing a now uncovered nipple when she takes them on a detour.

He looks around. "Is this your bathroom?"

"Yeah," she twists away from him briefly to open the cabinet and riffle through the rows of little jars and containers until she grabs a condom from the box next to a bottle of...Ben squints... vanilla-scented lotion.

Then she gives him a sly up and down glance and grabs two more.

"Really? Well, that's maybe a bit optimistic but I appreciate your enthus--"

She cuts his words off with another kiss, all hot and wet as she grinds her hips against his and Ben thinks, yeah, three times. Sounds about right.

The sheets are pushed down by the bottom of the bed already like she didn't bother to make her bed this morning and they're cool and blue and feel nice against his bare ass. Leslie's mostly naked too although her panties are still hanging on mid-thigh as he slides his palm up to where she's already wet. Well, they have kind of been engaging in foreplay for the last three hours, he supposes. Still, he continues to finger and explore her and definitely enjoys the little noises she's making, even when she bends down and slides him in her mouth.

"Ohhhhh, fuck." If it's been months since he's had sex, it's _really_ been months since his dick has been given this much up-close and personal attention.

Before she can start touching his balls and really send him over the edge, Ben tugs her up as he circles her clit with his wet finger and starts sucking on her neck, lavishing her with kisses and little bites before he pulls the skin into his mouth. His mouth continues to explore her skin and then he's grazing one nipple and then the other with his teeth, before tonguing her thoroughly.

They work together to get the small package ripped open and then she's rolling the condom down over him as he gets her starfish panties all the way off. Ben smiles and pulls her closer until he ends up right between her open thighs, the head of his cock rubbing against her clit. And then he's inside, his forehead against hers as he starts to move.

After some fun experimenting, Ben ends up on top, Leslie's legs wrapped up high against his waist as her mattress squeaks a bit beneath them. She starts giggling at the noises and then he's laughing too, before he speeds his thrusts up, mattress noises be damned. His fingers find her swollen clit again and press gently, finding a pattern that she seems to really like. Her gasps and groans spur him on and when she starts squirming and making these breathy high-pitched moans, Ben find himself being pulled right along with her, falling off the edge to his own orgasm.

A bit later, he's still pinning Leslie against the mattress, but she doesn't seem to mind his weight because they start smiley kissing again, even as he grows soft and slides out while she sighs against his mouth.

"Wow. That was..."

"Really amazing," he finishes, opening his eyes to see her looking straight at him. "Am I too heavy? I can--"

"Mmmmmmm," Leslie manages, her legs sliding down so Ben can push himself up and to the side.

He starts to get up to find a trash can to dispose of the condom but Leslie jumps up with him and grabs his hand before he can even take a few steps.

"Wha--"

"Let's go clean up and then get a snack in the kitchen. Oh, I know! We can make cookies."

"Now? Um, but we just had sex." And they're not wearing pants? Or anything, he thinks, his eyes skimming over Leslie's nude body appreciatively.

"Yep," she gives him a sly grin and starts leading him out into the hallway. "Is that a problem?"

Turns out--it's not a problem.

* * * * *

The next morning, Ben is happily humming REM's _Stand_ to himself, unable to help thinking about his own direction, and walking back towards the bed when he sees it--a large white shell out of the corner of his eye.

It's sticking a bit out of the jewelry box on Leslie's dresser and he practically does a double-take when he first spots its delicate but distinctive shape. He stops and then turns to tip-toe closer, quietly tugging the little drawer open a bit further so he can see more of it.

The shell in question is attached to an ornate shell necklace--a very familiar looking shell necklace. He's about to pick it up for a closer look when Leslie's voice startles him.

"Everything okay?"

"Oh," he looks up and over at the bed, trying to appear like he wasn't about to snoop. She's sleepy looking and tousled in the early morning light and is starting to sit up a bit and honestly, he'd much rather look at her anyway. "Hi. Yeah, sorry. Bathroom."

Leslie is staring at him and then she starts laughing and really, Ben decides, what's so strange about a woman having a shell necklace? It's not like it really means anything. Maybe she went to California once and bought a big and ornate touristy necklace so she could remember her beach trip. That's perfectly plausible.

"Something funny?" He asks, stepping away from her dresser. He pauses to pick the other two condom wrappers up and toss them in the small wastebasket near a small desk.

"Yes. You're naked. It's cute. You're in my bedroom and you're just standing there, all naked and everything."

Ben looks down. Yep, that's his dick and balls right there. He's definitely naked.

"Oh look, I am," he deadpans, a bit of a smirk forming on his slightly scruffy face. "You're very observant, Deputy Director Knope. As well as also naked."

"Well, you should come back to bed then, Professor Wyatt."

It doesn't take that much to convince him to do that, especially when Leslie is all warm and cuddly and promising him homemade waffles in a bit, even as she rubs her body against his and reaches back to squeeze his butt.

One thing Ben has discovered over the last twelve or so hours--she seems to really like his butt.

"Oh! I thought of what you can call your book!" Leslie says mid-squeeze, her fingers skimming along the crack of his ass.

"Really? What?"

" _Mermaid Tales_. But it's T-A-L-E-S and not T-A-I-L-S," she looks at him, clearly trying not to giggle at her own cleverness. "See what I did there? There aren't really any mermaid sightings in Pawnee, but I'm very good at making mermaid puns."

"Good lord, you are such a goofball," he declares with mock seriousness, rolling her under him and peppering her face and neck with little kisses.


	3. She was shy.

**Duluth, Minnesota 1982**

Benji is not sure how long he's been underwater, but suddenly the little mermaid girl is being pulled away from him. At the same time, strong arms encircle his waist under the water and start leading him up to the surface.

He's so cold all of a sudden. And numb. But then he can breathe, gasping for breath as his dad grabs onto the life preserver ring that's floating nearby. They're quickly being pulled up some steps and back onto the boat. Someone throws a blanket around Ben's small shoulders. He's still shaking but able to walk right up to the railing where he jumped from minutes ago. He knows he can't go back in the lake but he kind of wants to.

His parents are no longer yelling at each other but yelling at him, demanding to know _what was he doing?_ and _what was he thinking?_

His mom even leans down to start shaking him, before she starts crying and gathers him up in a warm hug. Ben doesn't answer any of their questions, he just looks out at the water.

 

**Pawnee, Indiana 2010**

Leslie still can't believe that he's actually here in Pawnee.

Ben Wyatt--that's his name. He's the little boy from the boat all those years ago. She's thought about him a lot over the years, always hoping that he was out there somewhere, being happy and productive. It's a relief to know that he's doing that, even if it does seem like his life was definitely affected by their encounter.

But she's not going to think about that part too much yet.

The other day, she knew it was him almost right away, the light blonde hair on her arms had practically stood straight up when he first walked into the office and attempted to ask Ron questions. When she shook his hand, she knew for sure.

She and Ben have a _connection_. Leslie could feel it deep inside as she sat there in the conference room discussing Lake Pawnee with him. It was like an invisible cord tethering them together. By the time they'd finished dinner at JJ's later that night, her whole body was humming with a need to be as close to him as possible--with or without clothes on.

And tonight, they're having a second date.

Dates normally make her a little nervous (there's so much that can go wrong!) but the first one with Ben had kind of snuck up on her. She wasn't even wearing a good first date outfit like cargo pants and a sexy hat, but Leslie was nibbling on his earlobe and squeezing his butt with abandon right there in the elevator before it had even dawned on her-- _oh boy, this is a first date_. It had all just felt so natural and right, and all through dinner at JJ's, she'd just wanted to attack him with her mouth. He was that adorable.

There was no time to call Ann for advice or practice possible scenarios with her best friend.

Leslie had been thankful that she hadn't accidentally popped a couple of Ambiens instead of Tic Tacs earlier in the afternoon. She had been a bit anxious about him coming back to City Hall yesterday, certainly, but as soon as they began walking along the hallways for her mural tour, Leslie discovered that spending time with Ben was effortless and fun. He had opinions on and things to say about all of her usual getting-to-know-you topics: whales, parades, electricity, teeter-totters.

Sure, it's maybe a bit of a problem that Ben believes that mermaids are only the stuff of mythology and also that he had wanted to snoop around Lake Pawnee, especially since Leslie is in fact, a mermaid from Lake Pawnee, but she's going to stick a pin in that issue for now too.

Because of that butt. Ben's glorious and perfect butt that's attached to the rest of his taut, narrow frame--it's all like an absolute dream come true, especially when he's kissing her neck or sliding his hands up her thighs.

* * * * *

When she and her mother had gotten back to Pawnee all those years ago, her mother told her father, the very human Robert Knope, what had happened with the boy on the boat. It was the only fight she'd ever seen her parents have. It started in the water and ended up above the surface, in the shallow part of the lake, so they could yell at each other in the moonlight and everything. Being a child, Leslie couldn't follow much of what they were saying, just that maybe she did something wrong.

But, she didn't seem to get in trouble for it.

Instead, Leslie started living on the land more--apparently, she didn't have the same constraints as her mom did when it came to having legs. Leslie could easily move between land and lake, without any concern for the moon's cycle or how many times she'd already had legs that year.

Leslie began to live with her dad full-time and they moved into a small, cozy house just a few blocks from the water's edge, not too far from where she lives now. She'd still see her mother all the time and she spent nights in the lake swimming and learning about how to be a mermaid, but she also started going to school and learning how to be human. She soon discovered that she really didn't have to sleep all that much.

Leslie also found out that she loved the land--trees, trails, wildflowers, and park benches where you could sit and look at all the trees, trails, and wildflowers.

Still, weekends were the best. Both she and her father went to the lake and they all swam around as a family. Now it seems kind of sad to her. Her parents obviously loved each other very much, but they didn't live together all the time like most couples. Still, it appeared to work for them and because of it, Leslie got to experience the best of both her worlds.

A times, when she and her dad were in the lake with her mom at night, her parents would set Leslie off on an errand to collect a list of shiny rocks and pieces of slimy algae from the lake's bottom, and she would come back to see them cuddling and kissing in the water. They were excellent at being sneaky.

When Leslie was eighteen, her dad died in a car crash while he was visiting his mother in Florida. She'd just started college and her first impulse was to rush home and dive straight into the water and never come out.

She ended up staying with her mom for a couple of weeks.

But then, even though she was heartbroken, she started to miss her life. So, she went back to the University of Indiana and flourished.

* * * * *

The second night that Ben is in Pawnee, they have dinner at Jurassic Fork.

While she gently teases him about ordering the _Ceratops Calzone_ , Leslie also invites Ben to stay over at her place again. She asks him this while her shoeless foot is wandering up his calf. He accepts with a coy little smile on his face and it takes all her willpower not to climb across the table and straddle his lap right there under the slightly ferocious looking T-Rex model.

They decide to swing by the Pawnee Super Suites after dinner so that he can pick up a couple of things--his toothbrush, a change of clothes for the next day, pajamas.

She raises an eyebrow at that last item, as she looks around the sparsely furnished motel room. "You don't want to sleep naked again tonight?"

"Well, I mean, we could, but sometimes pajamas are nice too. Like, if there's some kind of an emergency in the middle of the night or something, it's good to have your penis put away in case there's danger."

She giggles at his explanation. "Okay. I want your penis to be comfortable in my home."

Ben smiles at her. "Thank you. And my penis thanks you and also wants to say that you've made it super comfy so far," Ben pauses. "Okay, this is getting weird, right?"

"A little," she agrees with a grin as he locates a pair of underwear, clean socks, and a different plaid shirt from a large travel bag and transfers them to a smaller bag.

"So, um, you were you raised by hippies or something?" Ben asks, tossing some plaid flannel pants and a t-shirt in next.

"Me? Oh, well, kind of, I guess, why?" Leslie never really thought about it before, but she supposes that they were kind of hippies. Her dad was a science teacher at Pawnee North High School and her mom is a mermaid, so that probably makes them a bit _bohemian_.

"I don't know," he continues. "You just seem very comfortable being naked...for a government employee. Which don't get me wrong, is completely awesome and I'm super into it, I just like pajamas sometimes, for sleeping. You know, after an appropriate amount of naked time."

She nods because she gets it. Leslie does actually own pajamas--cute polka dot sleep shorts with little spaghetti strap tops. She thinks Ben will like them. "What were your parents like? Not hippies?"

"Noooooo," Ben says, making a face. "No. They got divorced when I was eight. And before that, they fought a lot. Well, they fought a lot afterwards too. Basically, it was a lot of fighting. And glares and snide comments, but all while wearing clothes."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Leslie picks up a sleep mask from the bedside table and examines it. She hands it to Ben and he shrugs and puts it in his bag too.

"It was actually a good thing they got divorced. It was...quieter for the most part. You wouldn't think that passive aggressiveness and holding things inside could be so loud, but it really was."

* * * * *

It's very late when Leslie glances over at Ben. He's bundled up under her covers and snoring lightly. It's cute, she thinks. He's so cute and nice and he looks like he belongs right in her bed, sleeping next to her. Also? He has big warm hands that feel practically electric on her skin wherever he touches her. Leslie runs her own hand softly through his mess of dark hair but he stays sound asleep.

She must have worn him out, she thinks with a grin. Either that or it was the two-hour, post-sex _Risk_ tournament, complete with popcorn and wine and plenty of cuddle breaks.

When Leslie gets to the bathroom across the hall, she quietly shuts the door and locks it.

Normally, if she couldn't sleep and was feeling antsy (and it was too late to call Ann or stop by her house), Leslie would head down to the lake but that's obviously not an option tonight. Instead, she decides to make due with her extra large soaking tub--that and its location are the two reasons she mainly decided to rent this house in the first place. The two-bedroom bungalow was honestly a little above her price range, but as soon as she saw the tub, she knew she had to live here.

Leslie puts the stopper in and adjusts the water--not too hot but not refreshingly chilly like Lake Pawnee. She plops a bath bomb down in there and watches it start to fizzle. She tosses her discarded pajamas on the counter and gets in.

It only takes a couple of seconds, after she lies down and rolls her neck against the hard surface of the porcelain, for her tail to come out and stretch all the way to the tub's rim. She closes her eyes and sighs happily. It always feels so good when this happens, whether she's here at home or at home in the lake.

She's about to sink completely under the surface of the soothing water and think about Ben, when there's a light tapping on the bathroom door.

"Leslie?"

"Ben?" She sits up in a rush, water loudly sloshing out over the sides of the tub.

"Hey. Yeah, it's me. Are you taking a--"

"I'm taking a bath!" She shouts over him, eyes widening as she looks around the bathroom in a rush.

" _Ohhhhhhhhh_ , a bath," he comments, sounding both tired and interested. "That sounds fun. Can I join you?"

"No! I'll be out in a sec. The water's cold anyway," she yells back as she attempts to get out of the tub quickly, but it proves a bit challenging.

One thing that she's learned over the years, tails--great for swimming, not so great for walking or generally moving about vertically. She lifts herself up alright but when she tries to swing around and get her tail out of the water, Leslie somehow ends up face down on the bathroom floor with a very loud thud.

"Leslie?"

"Ow! I mean, I'm fine!" she assures him, pulling a hanging towel down from the rack and trying to absorb the water still clinging to her bottom half.

"What's happening? Are you okay?" He's trying the door handle now. She sucks in a breath and squints her eyes shut just in case. Not that it will help if he bursts in or anything, but Leslie's not quite sure she can bear the look on his face if he sees her like this.

It's an old house, but the flimsy lock holds. Leslie exhales in relief and continues to dry herself off. "It's fine. I just fell getting out of the tub. I--"

"You fell? Leslie! Let me in. Do you need help? I--"

"No. No. It's good. It's all fine. I can get the door in a minute. But, uh, Ben, can you make me pancakes?" She's in full on panic mode now as she reaches for her hair dryer on the counter and turns it on, blowing hot air around her still-wet tail. 

"Pancakes? What? Did you hit your head?" He asks. "Okay, hold tight. I'm going to try and break the door down."

"Ben! No! It's fine! I'm uh..." 

Leslie is just about to yell out something about her period when mere seconds later, the door bursts open and there he is looking concerned, just as her legs appear beneath her. She's still in a pile on the floor, holding a hair dryer and yeah, she can already feel the bruise starting to form on one of her hips and both knees, but at least she's human. 

"What happened?" He asks again, gently helping her up off the floor.

"I tripped getting out of the tub. I'm fine."

"But why didn't you want me to come in? And what were you blow drying?"

"I was...shy," she decides on finally, trying to keep her expression even.

Leslie ignores the question about the hair dryer because really, there's no good answer for that one. Why would she be face down on the tile floor with a hair dryer, when most of her hair was dry and gathered up in a loose ponytail?

"You were shy?" He doesn't quite look like he's buying it. "After the elevator and your bed and on top of the refrigerator? You were...shy?"

Ben seems surprised by her answer and his thick dark hair is all sticking up and his t-shirt and pajama pants are all rumpled and god, she thinks, his pajamas are awesome. And also, it would have really been fun to take a bath with him. He's so sexy when he's confused and sleepy and his penis is out of danger.

Plus, he'd actually broken the door open when he thought she was hurt and needed his help. That's _really_ doing it for her. But even though she's incredibly turned on by that, Leslie clutches the towel tighter around her body, feigning false modesty.

"I was shy," she insists, moving past Ben and back towards her bedroom. Her heart is still pounding in her chest and she can't believe how close that was.

Leslie knows that she's probably going to have to tell him sometime, of course she is, especially if this turns into what she thinks (hopes?) it will. Maybe on their tenth wedding anniversary? Well, probably sooner. But not at two in the morning on the start of day three. It's too soon for all of that--the truth and annoying flossing habits and her propensity for late-night swims.

Not during their bubble when everything is all new and perfect and fun.

"She was shy," Ben mutters behind her, still sounding a bit incredulous.


	4. I want this night to get ca-raaazy. Get me a shot of Snake Juice.

He's in the water again. But this time he's older--a man.

And the mermaid that reaches out to him isn't a little girl anymore either. She's his age and she has pretty blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. The shell necklace hangs down, almost touching her round bare breasts. They're slippery under the water and when his hand brushes against them and he cups one in his palm, her nipple is already all hardened under his fingertips.

Like it always is in this familiar dream, Ben isn't scared, at least not yet. He's calm and happy and his mermaid is holding one of his hands and they're kissing underwater. His dick is hard and he's grinding against her in front, where her solid pelvic bone and her soft mermaid scales make a strangely erotic cushion.

Sometimes the dream continues on like this and he wakes up with a raging hard-on and the urgent need to put his hand down his pajama pants. But every so often, the dream changes.

Instead of continuing to make out with the mermaid, she gets pulled away from him, leaving Ben alone underwater. All at once, he remembers that he can't swim. He can't breathe and everything is black and murky and cold as he makes a futile attempt to gasp for air.

He can feel himself drowning and then it's an absolute nightmare.

* * * * *

  
This is happening really fast, Ben thinks. And also, now that he's pondering everything, this whole situation is very unlike him. He's usually more cautious and exact (Victoria used to call him _tightly wound_ and _rigid_ ). He's been in Pawnee for four days. Only four days and he's pretty sure that he's in love.

How is that even possible?

Ben had been with his ex for three years and the best he could manage was a strong like and a general concern for her well-being and happiness.

So given all of that, this thing with Leslie makes absolutely no sense. Also, Ben hasn't really gotten any work done on his research so far (or spent more than one night in his motel room), but he justifies it easily enough by deciding that this can be a _vacation_. He's been a bit of a workaholic for the last couple of years--he probably deserves a week or so off for cuddling...with his new girlfriend.

And sure, Leslie has maybe an odd quirk or two--what _was_ she blow drying the other night? He's still wondering about that and not quite able to let it go, but Pawnee, he decides, is itself very...unique. As are Leslie's co-workers.

Ben has been getting to know April, Tom, Ron, Donna, Andy, and Jerry a bit since he's been hanging around City Hall so much.

Right now, for instance, he's standing in the Parks and Recreation office waiting for Leslie to finish a meeting with Ron, when Tom pulls him into the conference room to take part in Guerilla Marketing 101 for something the well-dressed man is referring to as, "a high-end, Kahlua-style liqueur."

"Okay," Tom addresses the group, after he gets everyone settled and passes some scripts out around the table. "Leslie's new nerd boy-toy is going to play our exciting Snake Juice drinker, aka Brian Thunder."

"Seriously?" Ben asks, as Tom ignores him and continues with the instructions.

"Jerry, you'll be playing a boring beer drinker. Your name will be Jerry." To everyone, he adds, "Your talking points are high-end, VIP, lifestyle. Alright, let's run through it once. And action!"

"Hey, let me buy you all a drink," Jerry reads off the piece of paper in his hands.

"I'll take something basic like a beer," April replies.

"Yeah, I'm pretty," Andy reads slowly. "Boring. So I'll take a beer, too."

Tom widens his eyes at Ben, urging him to make his cue. "Oh! Um, not me. I want this night to get crazzzzzy. I'll--"

" _Ca-raaaazy_ ," Tom corrects. "You know, _ca-raaaazy_."

"I want this night to get _ca-raaazy_. Get me a shot of Snake Juice. I hear it has a dope...aftertaste?" Ben makes a face after he finishes his lines.

"Alright, that's gonna be a cut," Tom directs with a disappointed sigh.

* * * * *

After work, Ben and Leslie do spend most of the evening drinking, dancing, and making out in various corners of the Snakehole Lounge. Hand in hand, they go in search of a quiet place to talk and stumble across a small and empty office by the women's restroom. She'd been trying to explain some pony thing to him all day and he's still not quite sure he gets it.

But, once inside the room with the door closed behind them, she gives him a sly grin, followed by a blow job. It's a really excellent blow job with lots of wet tongue and her warm hand cupping his balls. The kind that practically makes Ben decide to quit his job, move to Pawnee, and marry Leslie Knope immediately. He'll even start liking ponies if that will make her happy.

That's a good plan, right? Who needs tenure and books about mermaids when there's this.

As he's working out all the details in his head, Ben spreads his jacket down on the lone office chair, helps her get her pants and panties off, sits her down, gets on his knees, and returns the favor. The old chair has wheels and he tugs her closer and closer until her legs are up over his shoulders and she's gasping and moaning through her own orgasm, his tongue swirling around her clit.

Snake Juice, it turns out, is actually pretty good, Ben decides a little while later, clinking glasses and then throwing back another shot with Leslie after they make it back out to the bar area--especially when it combines with the taste of her still in his mouth.

"I want this night to get _ca-raaazy_ ," Ben says holding his now empty glass up. "Get me another shot of Snake Juice."

"I hear _snorkjuice_ has a dope aftertaste," Leslie adds, also following Tom's ridiculous marketing script, before breaking out into giggles. "VIP!"

Ben can't resist and his hands tug her closer for more drunken Snake Juice kisses.

Later, (has it been hours? Days? Time seems to move differently inside the Snakehole Lounge), Ben is sleepy.

"But, I don't want to get drunk," he mumbles into something. He can't quite tell where his head is resting at the moment. He knows it's not a pillow, but besides that fact, he's a little unclear.

"But you are drunk," a slightly familiar voice tells him. Ben turns his head and squints. Is it Ron? He thinks the man wearing the black, shiny pillbox hat is Ron, Leslie's boss. "A sober person would have reached for the pretzels."

Ben looks around and frowns and yeah, he was facedown in a bowl of pretzels right on top of the bar.

"Oh, I'm on the bar," he complains, as Ron helps him sit up.

"You were on the bar," the man agrees.

Ben shakes his head and tries to focus. "So, listen to this. Listen. I've only known Leslie for four days and she's incredible, right? She's like a Jedi crossed with a Ninja...crossed with a warm naked waffle."

Ron grimaces briefly, but he admits, "She is a very competent government employee."

"Yeah!" Ben says excitedly. "She is. And she has pretty blonde hair and a beautiful smile. And she's read a really impressive number of political biographies and she likes board games as much as I do. But here's the thing. It's only been four days and I think I love her. I mean, it could be the really great sex--and I'm talking really, really great sex--like, guess what we just did in a room...over there." Ben points towards the office, but Ron doesn't turn his head to look. The man continues to look pained and he doesn't really seem like he wants to guess.

Ben decides to move on. "But I don't think it's just the sex. I love her, Ron. I love all of her, not only the sexy parts. After four days. Me. I'm in love. That's weird, right?"

Ron Swanson continues to look uncomfortable. "This personal conversation is weird, son. And also one you should be having with Leslie."

"Ben! There you are!" Leslie moves in close to stand right next to him, his stool swivels to face her, and Leslie's fingers are in his hair. Then her mouth is on his and Ben thinks he hears Ron say, "Oh look, Leslie's here," as he quickly walks away.

She practically gets right on top of him right where he sits on the small bar stool, his arms instinctively reaching out to help her climb up.

"Sorry for disappearing on you, but I was talking to Ann, the most beautiful and wisest best friend in the whole world. She's over there," Leslie points and starts waving. "Hi, Ann!"

"Hey," Ben manages in that direction. He has no idea which woman Ann is or if anyone waves back. Everything is a little blurry.

"She works in the Public Health department in City Hall part-time. Anyway, we were discussing very important matters and I have something to tell you. It's kind of a big secret but I think I'm ready."

"Oh yeah?" Ben grins and shifts Leslie's weight a bit in his lap, before he taps her in the chest with his index finger. "Well, I have something to tell you too. Ron said I should. My thing is also kind of a secret, but only because you don't know about it yet."

"Really?" She's practically beaming at him. "Okay, but not here. It's too loud. And sitting in your lap is too distracting."

Ben nods agreeably and pinches her butt.

* * * * *

"Donna? Could you let us out by the lake? Here? Right now?"

Ben is still smiling at Leslie from across the backseat of Donna's Mercedes and it's probably a good thing they aren't sitting right next to each other, because Leslie would probably be in his lap again, grinding down on him. Not that that sounds like a bad idea, but it's not like they're alone back here.

"This isn't a taxi service," the one sober person in the vehicle complains, even as she changes lanes so she can make the turn easier.

"Please? Please-please-please-please-please? I want to show Ben the lake. It's important. Come on, Donna. Please-please-pl--"

"Fine," the woman responds, pulling the car into the small parking lot by Lake Pawnee. "But you're on your own the rest of the way to your house."

"Yay!" Leslie shouts and soon Ben joins her with his own drunken _yay!_ And then he throws in one more _baba booey_ for good measure.

Everyone laughs and Andy starts making porno music noises and holds his hand up for a high-five. What the hell, Ben slaps it on his way out of the Mercedes.

Instead of a goodnight, Donna offers a, "Get it, Knope."

"Night, Leslie!" Jerry yells from where he's strapped to the roof of the SUV.

They hold hands as they make their way to the lake and eventually end up on a rickety old wooden pier that leads out to the water. Normally, Ben would be super freaked out because he knows through his preliminary research that Lake Pawnee gets deep pretty quickly, but he's not. He's drunk.

The whole night has had a dreamy, unreal kind of quality, whether he was moaning as his hand slid through her hair or trying to keep his balance on a bar stool. So, it's no surprise that Ben is smiling and hugging Leslie and trying to pull her blazer off now, because somehow that makes perfect sense. They both laugh as it falls down onto the pier's wooden surface. It's followed by his jacket.

Leslie said that she had a secret to tell him too, but at first, they just stay quiet and sway together in the dark. Ben thinks it would be even more romantic if they really started dancing right here, under the glow of the small light post and the moon. Maybe she'll suggest skinny dipping?

But yeah, he thinks, they could slow dance in the moonlight and kiss and then he can tell her that he loves her. Ben grins and moves back a bit so that he can spin Leslie around but he miscalculates how close he is to the edge.

He hits the water with a surprised gasp.

After that, it all seems to happen in slow motion. The lake is cold and dark. He thinks he hears Leslie yelling his name, but that too all seems like it's happening far away and very slowly. He's trying not to swallow water as his clothes soak through and his shoes start to feel heavy. In reality, it's probably only twelve or so feet to touch the bottom in this part of the lake, but it might as well be fifty. Or one hundred and fifty.

Ben's arms start flailing about and he's trying to doggie paddle because that's all he knows how to do (and even that is theoretical), but then Leslie's right there next to him and she's easily swimming him back towards the pier. She helps him get up and out of the water. Leslie follows him up onto the ledge and sits next to him while he shivers and tries to calm his breathing and his heart rate. She holds his hand and it feels nice and it honestly takes a couple of minutes for Ben to register what he's seeing.

Leslie has a tail.

It starts just below her belly button and keeps going and instead of legs and feet, she has a fin down at the bottom.

Leslie is...a mermaid?

"Oh my god," Ben says, standing up quickly and moving a few feet away from her. "What...is...that?"

He's still staring at her where she sits on the edge of the pier, as if he could even take his eyes off of her if he wanted to. And in this one moment under the moon by Lake Pawnee, his whole life seems to unravel right in front of his eyes.

When he was seven he fell into the water. He saw a little mermaid. All of the related dreams that have practically haunted him since childhood. His whole academic and professional career. The freshwater fish tanks at his condo. The weird mermaid-themed porn he downloaded on his computer that one night in grad school when he was super stressed-out. It's all just right there and Ben suddenly finds himself having one hell of an existential crisis.

Leslie's shiny bluish-grey looking tail is hanging down, almost touching the water. There are tinges of purples and reds in it too and it's almost pretty. Yeah, her tail is pretty, he thinks. Her motherfucking mermaid tail.

"You--"

"It's a costume," she interrupts quickly, her expression suddenly looking as panicked as his own must have minutes ago. "Surprise! I know you like mermaids so..."

He moves closer and lightly touches the side of her thigh (or at least where her thigh should be) with the tip of his sopping wet shoe and watches as delicate fin down at the bottom flutters in response. "That's not a costume. That's a real--"

"What? No, it's not. It's the light. The light here is funny. Plays tricks on the eyes. Maybe you need glasses? We should get you into an optometrist first thing tomorrow. I know a --"

"I don't need glasses. This has nothing to do with lighting or eyesight. You're a mer--"

"How do I know that you're not the mermaid, huh? Maybe it's you, buddy. Why does it have to be me? I--"

"Because you're the one with the tail!"

"Where?"

Ben points to where his foot was seconds ago. "Right there! That's a tail!"

Leslie reaches for her discarded blazer and uses it to quickly but thoroughly dry herself and then it's only a minute or so before her legs are back.

"What tail?" She asks.

"No. No. No. No. I saw that. You had a tail. I saw it," he says, the last part just a whisper.

He feels unhinged. He feels sick to his stomach. Mermaids are folktales. For fuck's sake, they aren't supposed actually to be _real_.

Of course, deep down, he's always kind of wished that mermaids were real, but Ben knows that they aren't. They can't be.

Right?

She's still staring at him, but also still looking a bit drunk herself. He watches as she stands up shakily and puts her blazer back on. Her pants and underwear are gone now and even though he's so confused he can hardly bear it, he picks his jacket off and gives it to Leslie so she can wrap it around her waist.

"Am I crazy? What happened. You need to tell me the truth. Please, I'm begging you. What was that?"

She sighs and closes her eyes. When she opens them, she says, "Okay. Here's the truth, Ben. I'm a mermaid from Lake Pawnee and when I jumped in the water after you, I transformed, because that's what happens when I get in the lake. But it's okay. It's not a big deal, it's just who I am."

All Ben can do is continue to stare at her in disbelief.

* * * * *

Leslie's house is only about three blocks away from the pier. She's still got Ben's jacket and she has no idea where her shoes are. The sidewalks feel cool and comforting on the bottoms of her feet. She'll have to look for her shoes the next time she goes down to the lake. Of course, she was wearing the red pumps that she really likes.

That stupid largemouth bass that's always trying to follow her around down there around better not take them.

She and Ben aren't talking but he's still following her, so that's at least something. Maybe he's in shock? He's probably very surprised by everything.

This certainly didn't go the way she'd planned, but it'll be okay, Leslie tells herself. She'll get him home and get him out of his wet clothes and wrap a big fluffy towel around Ben and get him all warm and dried off and she can make hot cocoa. She'll explain everything and he'll understand. It'll be fine.

It has to be fine.

Yeah. Ben is just overexcited that mermaids actually exist and he's having trouble getting a handle on his feelings--his very overjoyed and happy feelings. But still, they don't hold hands or touch at all on the way there. That concerns her a little.

When they get inside the front door, Ben stops abruptly and looks at her like he doesn't even know who she is anymore. When Leslie hands him a bright blue bath towel from the half-bath off the entryway, he takes it but he just holds it in his hand as he drips lakewater down onto her floor.

"What just happened?" He asks again, looking like he hasn't processed everything yet.

"You fell in the lake, but I rescued you."

He stares at her. "Alright, but what about the part where you had a tail?"

"Oh, that. Right. I'm a mermaid, remember? Well, technically, I'm half-mermaid, half-human. My dad was human and I actually grew up most of the time on land. With legs and everything."

"Your dad--"

"Yeah. He saw my mom from a kayak and fell in love and they had me."

He shakes his head like he still can't believe that they're talking about this. "I...I actually thought I saw a mermaid once when I was little. I fell into the water during a cruise and--"

"I remember. That was me! God, Ben! I've wanted to tell you so badly ever since I saw you in the office, but I didn't know how. I recognized you as soon as you walked into the Parks Department. We have..." she tries to figure out how to explain it to him. "A special connection. Because of that day."

Now he's looking at her like she just told him that the world was about to end. "What?"

"That was me in Lake Superior that day. My mom and I were visiting relatives from our pod up there. It's pretty easy, really. In early spring Deer Creek floods and you can get to the underwater tunnel that goes right to the Mississinewa Reservoir. Then you take that to the Wabash River, cut over to the Kankakee River to the Illinois River, to Lake Michigan, straight into Lake Superior."

Now he looks _really_ confused.

"Anyway," Leslie continues, "how I got there isn't important. I'm really sorry. I had no idea that I could do that. It was an accident, I swear."

"Wait. Do what? What did you do?"

"You know, lure men to their watery..." she trails off as his eyes grow large as the saucers at JJ's. Crap. This is probably not a good thing to get into right now.

"You...you did that...on purpose? You made me jump? You tried to kill me?"

"No! No, of course not! I didn't know what I was doing. I had no idea I could do that. Really."

If Ben looked upset before he looks really upset now. "Oh my god. You tried to kill me. I was just a child! How could you--"

"Hey! I was just a child too! I wasn't trying to drown you or make you jump in the water. Or hurt you. I just smiled at you. I thought we were playing. I had no idea that would happen and I've always felt really bad about it. Besides, we don't even really do that sort of thing anymore!"

"This is insane. This is...I don't even know what the hell this is. Or what you are. Are you serious right now?"

They stare at each other a few seconds and Leslie's stomach starts to knot up. This doesn't seem like it's going to be okay. Why isn't he understanding this?

She tries again. "Ben, I'm still me. I'm the same person that I was yesterday. The same person that you were with last night. And for the last four days. Remember the elevator? The bedroom? On top of the refrigerator?"

She watches as he shakes his head and doesn't seem to remember or care about any of those things at all.

"I--"

Leslie interrupts him. "So, are you going to tell people about me? That mermaids are real?"

"I don't know," Ben answers, still looking pretty out of it, he's even swaying a bit. "I'm--"

"Now what?" she presses on. "You call some of your professor scientist friends and they come get me and study me? Run tests and cut me open and see what's inside a human-mermaid hybrid?"

That question seems to shock him back into focus. "What? No. No, of course not. I wouldn't do that."

"Okay. Then, this shouldn't matter, right? Why don't we get you out of those wet clothes and all warmed up?" Leslie suggests, taking a step closer. Ben backs away quickly to avoid contact and his action practically deflates her. "You don't trust me anymore?"

He ignores her question."I don't think I can be here right now."

"You mean, you can't be here with me."

"Yeah," he's looking right at her, but Ben's eyes don't seem all that warm anymore, just kind of unfocused and sad. "I can't be here with _you_."

She reaches out to try and touch him.

If they could only touch and connect again, Leslie knows it would be okay, he'd tell her he understands and that everything was fine, and then they would hug and hold onto each other and she could get him all warmed up. But Ben moves back even further, bumping into the wall trying to get away from her, like he's frightened or maybe even disgusted by her now.

She wants to cry but Leslie manages to hold it together for a few more seconds as she watches Ben turn and stumble outside. He sets off in the direction of the Pawnee Super Suites, taking her towel with him.

Leslie still has his tan jacket tied around her hips when the tears really start.


	5. I love you and I trust you.

It was the usual dream.

Except this time, the mermaid was definitely Leslie and he's pretty sure Leonard Nimoy was narrating some of it, which was kind of....unsettling. Ben definitely also has a huge boner in his inside-out pajama pants when he wakes up. Honestly, he's surprised he even managed to get those on last night.

He almost wishes it was the other version of the dream--the one that leaves him freaked out and breathless for air.

Ben groans and rolls over on his side in the not very comfortable Pawnee Super Suites bed, not wanting to think about Leslie and her beautiful smile, or her warm, shapely breasts or her wonderful ass. And he definitely does not want to think about her tail.

He's taking deep steady breaths and focusing his thoughts on baseball stats, willing his dick to lose interest in his dream. Eventually, he turns onto his stomach and buries his face in the pillow.

 _Fuck_.

He's in love with a mermaid. A mermaid who accidentally lured him off a boat and into frigid lake waters when he was a child. When _they_ were children. But he's not quite ready to deal with that yet.

Ben's head feels like it was run over by a truck and the thought of going downstairs and grabbing a dry and tasteless muffin from the motel's free breakfast buffet makes him want to dry heave. He reaches over towards the bedside table for his phone (thank god he'd accidentally left that in his motel room yesterday), knocking his watch to the floor in the process.

It's 10 am. He stares at the little screen for a few minutes as everything spins around him, before he hits the familiar icon on his phone. When Henry answers he doesn't really know what to say, so he asks about his fish, Madison.

"Yes." He can almost hear his older brother roll his eyes. "I have somehow managed to keep your pet goldfish alive so far. Maybe it's the ten pages of instructions that you left for me?"

"It's not...it's not a goldfish. It's a _Royal Yellow Discus_. It's not important," Ben pauses and sighs dramatically. "Actually, it's going to bother me if I don't tell you the difference between a Discus and a generic goldfish. Madison is a tropical freshwater fish and kind of rare. That's why I'm not trusting her at home to a student."

Madison has a special travel aquarium and everything, since sometimes he takes her to his office. Before he left on his sabbatical, Ben drove to Indianapolis and set his favorite fish up at Henry's apartment. He also hired a grad student to take care of the other fish at home in his other two aquariums.

Normally, Victoria would do it, but...well, that's obviously no longer an option, which is probably for the best, since Ben has apparently been sleeping with a mermaid.

"Madison the not-a-goldfish is fine, dude. It's swimming around doing its fish things. It doesn't even know you're gone."

"Okay, good. Sorry. I just had a rough night. And morning."

Henry laughs. Loudly. Ben has to hold the phone away from his ear.

"You are such an asshole. I can't believe you're getting paid to not work and travel around and look for mermaids like you're an ocean-obsessed Fox Mulder or something."

"I'm not...looking for mermaids." Should he get a t-shirt made? Ben wonders. "I'm collecting oral histories for a book about folklore centered around the Great Lakes region. Not the ocean. Freshwater. Again, you're wrong, it's completely different."

Henry snorts. "Oral histories? Is that what you're calling it these days?"

Ben groans. "I'm researching. Publishing a book will help me get tenure. It's my job, my profession. I'm not hunting for mermaids or getting historical blowjobs."

Just mermaid blowjobs, Ben thinks, with a rub to his still-pounding forehead.

"You're weird, bro," Henry tells him, laughing.

"I know, dude," Ben agrees and soon, despite his head and the spinning room and the thing with Leslie, he's laughing too.

He doesn't tell his brother about her during their fifteen-minute call. He doesn't even know how to bring it up, but it does feel good to just talk to his big brother, even if it's just about dumb shit. It makes him feel better even if Ben doesn't share the one thing that's on his mind the most. Like how he's spent years as an adult thinking that his heart just didn't work right, that he couldn't fall in love, and that he was always going to be searching for something and never be able to find it.

But that here in Pawnee, he finally finds her--his soul mate, someone that he immediately connects with and is effortlessly in love with--and when he does, she's a fish.

Yeah, Henry would love that.

* * * * *

Later in the afternoon, he feels better. Things are clearer, even.

His father, Ben knows, would stay outraged and upset about something in the past that couldn't be changed, no matter how miserable it made him. Ben, like he so often tries to do, decides to handle this situation in the exact opposite way of Steven Wyatt--WWSWD and then don't do that.

That decided, he's not quite sure what the woman he loves being a mermaid (or at least half-mermaid) means for his career and research focus, but he's not going to deal with that just yet.

Instead, Ben looks for Leslie at her house but she's not there. When he stops by the Parks department, they say she's taken today and some of next week off, Tom's tone implying that Leslie taking any time off is a bit unusual.

While at City Hall, he remembers Leslie talking about her best friend Ann (a lot) last night and also that Ann works part-time in the Public Health department.

He decides to try her and thankfully, Ann Perkin's office is on the first floor and not on the fourth. He's not sure he could handle the fourth floor right now.

"Hey," Ben greets, as he steps into the small and orderly space and a very pretty brunette woman lifts her head up. She looks kind of hung-over. "Ann?"

"Yeah," she studies him and then her eyes narrow. "Ben?"

He nods. "Um, you're Leslie Knope's best friend, right?"

"Uh-huh," the woman responds folding her arms across her chest.

Ben sighs. Well, this is starting off well. "She told you about me?"

"Yep."

"Um, so maybe you know we had a sort of a fight?"

When she doesn't respond, he keeps going.

"Okay. Well, I said some things I didn't really mean and I feel bad and I'd like to talk to her and try to fix everything, but she isn't answering my calls and she doesn't seem to be at home. I checked in with the Parks Department, but they said she was taking some time off. Did she go on a vacation or something?"

"You were a jerk last night."

Ann Perkins hasn't exactly seemed friendly towards him so far, but that blunt declaration sort of surprises him. "I'm sorry?"

"You heard me," she gets up and walks past him to close her office door. "She practically saved your life and you were a jerk."

Ben frowns as Ann passes by him again and goes back to stand behind her desk. "So you know, um, about her..." but then he trails off because it still seems so crazy.

"That my best friend is an amazing and beautiful mermaid when she's in freshwater? Yeah, of course, I know that. And I also know that you could have drowned last night but she jumped in to save your drunk ass and you--"

"Look, I was freaked out. And yeah, more than a little drunk. It's all kind of a shock, you know? One minute you're dancing with this amazing woman that you really, really like and the next, you're gasping for breath and your new girlfriend suddenly has a big fish tail and no legs. Cut me a little slack here."

Ann's studying him, glaring really, her arms still folded across her chest.

"Did she tell you about when we were kids? How we first met?"

Ann nods.

"Okay." Ben rubs his forehead before continuing. "Well, I think you can admit that it's all a lot to take in. It was barely spring when I went overboard into Lake Superior. I was only seven years old. I could have drowned or died of hypothermia. I probably should have drowned or died of hypothermia. I was in the water for at least ten minutes."

Ann's voice softens a little when she says, "Yeah, but you didn't die, did you?"

"No. I didn't. She saved me. I mean, apparently, she kind of caused me to jump in in the first place, but she saved me," Ben agrees. And then he says the conclusion that he's spent the day arriving at out loud.  "Really, if I'm being honest, I've spent my whole life since trying to find her again. And now I have. And I don't want to lose her just because I was confused and drunk and I handled it all wrong. And yeah, I did act like a jerk. But, I was--"

"Overwhelmed?" Ann cuts in, and thankfully, it seems like she's starting to soften up a bit towards him.

"That. And really confused. And don't forget drunk. I was still very, very drunk. What the hell is in Snake Juice, anyway?"

"Demerol?" Ann guesses and gives him a little shrug.

"Yeah. It was a rough morning. I threw up in the shower," he shudders at the memory. "Do you know where Leslie is? Now that I've mostly recovered, I really need to talk to her. I want to fix this."

Ann seems to be considering his plea.

"Please?"

Finally, she says, "Leslie's at the lake. When she gets sad or upset she either bakes or swims. Well, she bakes when she's happy too, but this time, she was too sad to even make a cake."

Of course, that's where she is--he should have guessed.

Ben shakes his head and sighs at Ann's wording. "You just really have to make me feel extra horrible here, right?"

"Well, yes. Best friend duty."

"That's fair. So, she's at the lake. How do I find her? It's kind of a big lake."

"She won't come up during the day, but tonight you should go out to the pier, you know, the one you drunkenly stumbled off of like an idiot? Just go out there and talk to her. She'll hear you."

"Thank you."

"Oh and Ben, for god's sake, learn how to swim."

* * * * *

"Hi. Leslie," Ben pauses to look out at Lake Pawnee. Even with the overhead light at the end of the pier, at ten o'clock everything still looks pretty dark, but there is a mostly full moon again up in the sky.

He feels a little foolish, but he doesn't let that stop him. "Um, Ann said you were here and that I could talk to you. I want to talk to you. I tried calling and stopping by your house."

Ben steps closer to the end of the pier and looks down, but he can't really see much. Even though he doesn't remember all the details from falling in the other night, he still has to will himself not to instinctively move back a few feet from the edge.

"I hope you can hear me. Ann said you could. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for last night. I was kind of an asshole. But, you have to understand, I was very surprised. And very drunk and the whole mermaid thing really...I mean, I did not expect that to happen. You know, you suddenly having a tail. It really threw me. I've kind of been spending my whole adult life working under the assumption that mermaids really did not exist."

Ben stops talking again. He wishes that Leslie would come up to the surface of the calm water or something, but she doesn't.

He closes his eyes and sighs. "I've also spent the day trying to figure out if I...well, if I love you because of what happened when we were kids and this _connection_ we have or if I've fallen in love with you over the last few days because I just did," Ben pauses and considers his next words.

They come easily.

"But I don't think it really matters which it is. The fact is that I'm in love with you. And I really don't care if you're a mermaid, you're right, it doesn't matter. That's beside the point. You're smart and funny and amazing and I'm just so fucking happy when I'm with you. Happier than I've ever been. Like everything suddenly just fits and makes sense. And...that's how I really feel."

He nods into the darkness and slips his shoes off. Ben was hoping they'd be talking face to face by now, but it seems that he's going to have to _go big or go home_ , so to speak.

"And before you, well, before I came to Pawnee, I'd always felt like I was searching for something, but I could never find it. I never even knew what it was exactly, but I think it was _you_. I think I was always looking for you, Leslie, no matter where I went."

Next, Ben reaches into his pockets and takes his still-soggy wallet, his cell phone, and keys out. He bends down and lays them on the wooden surface next to his shoes. He takes a deep, calming breath which doesn't really work, but he tries to pretend that it does.

"Alright. Obviously, I still can't swim. But I trust you, Leslie. I love you and I trust you."

Ben closes his eyes and jumps off the pier and right into the dark water below.


	6. A mood tail. That is so awesome.

Ben panics for a brief moment but then he gets a hold of himself and unlike last night, there's no frantic struggle against the feel of the lake water soaking his clothes. _This will be okay_ , he tells himself. _It's okay. Just breathe. Wait! No! Don't breathe_. Ben continues to hold his breath and lets himself sink down.

The tight feeling in his chest only lasts for a second, because then Leslie's right there and everything is fine. He's warm and safe and there's some kind of magic surrounding him or something, making air completely unnecessary. He remembers feeling the exact same way that day in Lake Superior.

But instead of staying underwater, she quickly swims up, taking Ben with her.

"Are you crazy?" She yells as soon as they break the surface of the lake.

"Hi," he answers, beyond relieved that Leslie's actually right here in front of him and staring at him, even if she does look a bit exasperated. He wants to hug her and kiss her but even more importantly, for her to not let go of him. "So here's the thing, maybe? But also, I love you."

"Ben! You can't swim! You can't just jump into a strange lake at night like a lunatic with a death wish."

"I didn't. I jumped into _your_ lake," he explains, like it's the most sensible thing in the world. Then he tries his greeting again. "Hi, there. Leslie Knope, I'm in love with you."

"Hi," Leslie answers, her voice softer as she moves even closer to brush right up against him. Her tail swooshes against his feet. Without his shoes on, it kind of tickles. "That was very, very dumb."

"I know," he moves into kiss her.

"Ann told you how to find me?"

Why does she keep talking? He just wants to kiss. "Yeah, she--"

"That sneaky but beautiful bastard. Isn't she amazing?"

"Um...yeah?" Ben tries to lock lips once more, but once again she dodges his face's advance.

"Hold on. I'm sorry. We can't do this yet. Not until...I need to tell you...I'm so sorry." She's still keeping him a few inches away and now Leslie looks like she wants to cry.

"For what? You didn't do any--"

"For this, for all of this. And the other night, after we got out of the water. I tried to push ahead like everything was fine. I never tried to understand how you might be feeling or how shocked you might be at everything. I just decided it would be okay and..." She trails off, looking sad and guilty.

"Leslie, I--"

"No, wait. I'm not done! You were right, I did something wrong that first day I saw you, even if it was an accident. And maybe because of what I did when we were kids, this isn't supposed to be your life, and I get that now. Maybe you should have been a doctor or a lawyer or, I don't know, maybe you could have been an eighteen-year-old mayor in your hometown or something great like that and you wouldn't have spent all this time building your life around.. _.this_."

Ben watches as she closes her eyes and looks like she's bracing herself for something after her confession. Does she think he's going to yell at her?

"Stop," he tells her gently, not wanting her to think that any of that matters. Because it doesn't. "Stop it. Look at me. This is exactly who I'm supposed to be. And that last thing sounds awful. I was really stupid when I was eighteen. That would not have gone well," he assures her.

"Ben, but--"

"Leslie," he pleads, gripping onto her and trying to tug her closer. "I don't want to be anywhere else. I don't want to be anything else. And I definitely don't want to love anyone else. I want this. I want you. I have free will, right? You're not controlling my mind with sneaky mermaid powers right now or anything?"

Leslie snorts and makes a face while shaking her head. He takes that as a no.

"Alright. Then I'm choosing you. Wait," he pauses. "This is it, right? The thing you wanted to tell me last night? There's not another big secret?"

Leslie laughs. "Noooo. No, this is it. I'm a mermaid."

He nods and also assumes that they are no mermaids in the Eagleton Reservoir. "Cool."

They smile at each other and Ben pulls her a little closer. This time she lets him...or rather she rushes forward fully and into his arms.

"Wait. What was your secret?"

Ben grins at her and now their noses are almost touching. "I already told you. That I'm in love with you, you strange passionate goofball of a mermaid."

"Oh! Me too. I mean, I love you too. I love you and I trust you. With all my heart."

They stare at one another for the briefest of moments and then she's completely pressed against him, her mouth tightly on his. Her tail winds around his legs and he finds that he doesn't even have to nervously kick his feet or anything to stay above the water, they're both just suspended in the now warm and comfortable feeling lake just above their waists, kissing and smiling and touching one another.

Her hand reaches back to give his butt a squeeze as she moans into his mouth.

Ben's got his hand where her butt should be and he's just about to give her a firm squeeze too when, out of the corner of his eye, he sees...another mermaid watching them? Staring, really, kind of judgmentally. He quickly pulls back but he doesn't let go completely, just moves his hand up to Leslie's arm.

It would be completely awful to get to this point and then actually drown.

"Mom!"

"Leslie," the older woman responds and then seems to give Ben the once over as she swims closer.

"Ben, this is my mother. Her name isn't pronounceable in English and I don't want to break your eardrums, so I'm not going to say it. Mom, this is Ben."

"Um, hi, Mrs. Kno....um? Ms...Mermaid," he kind of stutters through his answer and then groans internally. _Ms. Mermaid_?

This is definitely not going as well as it was a couple of minutes ago. He's in a lake with his naked mermaid girlfriend and his naked mermaid girlfriend's naked mermaid mom. And she has short hair and the shell necklace she's wearing does nothing to hide...anything.

It's all a bit awkward.

Leslie's mom rolls her eyes at his flustered demeanor. "Do female breasts make you nervous, Ben?"

"Mom," Leslie hisses under her breath.

"Um, no. No. I like breasts. I'm a big fan of female breasts. Um, I mean, I--"

Thankfully, she cuts him off before he can keep going. "Good. Because shell bras are ridiculous and no one wears them. But more importantly, did you mean what you said earlier? When you were up on the pier. Before you jumped into the lake like a complete idiot?"

Without hesitation, Ben nods assertively and makes easy eye contact as he slides his hand down so that his fingers join with Leslie's under the water. "I did. I'm in love with your daughter and I want to be with her."

Leslie and her mom share a look, before the older woman speaks. "He's a bit odd, but I like this one."

* * * * * *

"Okaaaay. We're in your bathroom," Ben says a couple of days later, after Leslie removes her hands from his eyes.

He's been trying to not over think anything and just enjoy being with Leslie during her week off from the Parks Department--his new mermaid girlfriend. Of course, it is a little hard to turn his brain completely off and questions like: _Should I resign from IU and move to Pawnee? Will she still love me if I get on the faculty at Eagleton College? Will we have mer-babies?_ still make it into his brain on occasion.

He's also still wondering, _if mermaids are real, does that mean that wizards and dragons are too?_ He hasn't gotten around to actually asking her that one yet, since he gets the feeling that Leslie already thinks he's a bit of a nerd.

But Ben's not using his brain for any of that right now as he looks around at what she was so excited to show him, slightly confused.

"We _are_ in my bathroom," Leslie confirms. "Surprise!"

"Alright. You know I've seen your bathroom before, right?"

Since the night at the lake, when she rescued him for the third--and hopefully final--time, it's all been a fun and sexy bubble of white wine, cuddling, and History Channel documentaries. And pancakes. So many pancakes. The woman really does love her breakfast food.

Now, he watches as she gives him a little smirk and undoes her silky blue robe, letting it flutter down to the floor. He's seen her naked a lot (turns out that just as he first suspected, she's definitely _not_ shy), but the sight still manages to practically take his breath away.

She doesn't answer, Leslie just grabs a round ball of something from a jar on the counter and releases it with a plop into the tub full of steamy water. It starts fizzing.

"What is that?"

"A bath bomb."

"Oh, okay. Right. Those are those things with glitter and colors or whatever."

"Usually, but this one's special. I make them myself."

"What's in it?" He asks moving closer to the tub and sniffing in the pleasant scent, as she delicately steps in and lies back.

"Oh, the usual stuff--citric acid, baking soda, cornstarch, epsom salts, lavender oil. Plus, one special ingredient: about a half teaspoon of water from Lake Pawnee. I need that to actually transform."

Lake Pawnee? Ben frowns and then...Leslie seems to change right before his eyes. Except he can't really remember the exact moment her tail appeared, just that she didn't have legs anymore. He stares as the end of her tail unfurls and gracefully spreads out over the tub's ledge.

"Good lord," he exclaims and then he pauses as he seems to consider the scene in front of him. "Ohhhhhh, that one night last week when you wanted me to make you pancakes? You were a mermaid in your bathtub, weren't you? I get that now."

She grins and nods up at him. But then she stops. "Oh, wait. That was just a regular smile. I'm not doing anything to you. I promise."

"I know. It's okay," he moves closer and kneels down outside of the tub. "Can I...uh, touch it?"

"Yes."

He'd touched her tail briefly the other night in the lake, but they didn't spend all that much time in the water after he'd met her mother. After Leslie swam them to the shallow area, Ben had picked her up and carried her out of the water and over to a bench, where she had some clothes stashed. Later that night, she'd shown him just how turned on his swooping her up and walking out of the lake with Leslie in his arms had made her.

But now, when his hand dips below the water and finds her hip (or at least where her hip should be), Ben really has some time to touch and take it all in and he discovers that Leslie's tail is softer than he expected. Not like skin exactly, but not scaly at all. Smooth, almost silky feeling. He rubs his palm tentatively against her.

The water has a blue tinge to it from the bath bomb but he can still easily see her tail start to change color, from a light gray to...a deep, warm gold, centered right where is hand is resting on her.

"This is amazing. Oh! Why is--"

"I change color depending on how I'm feeling," she grins up at him. "Right now I'm happy. So yellow."

The rich and sunny color is spreading from under his fingers down to the tips of the fin at her tail. Even though the slow expansion of gold is mesmerizing, Ben's gaze eventually travels back up to her eyes.

"A mood tail. That is so awesome."

She starts giggling, her breasts visibly shaking a little just under the surface of the water. And honestly, that's pretty mesmerizing too.

"Okay, I was kind of lying earlier. I was trying to lure you into my tub. But I was using my boobs, not mermaid powers. Is it working? Do you want to get in here with me, babe?"

"I really do," Ben admits, unable to stop smiling.

"Good. Because last night you said you wanted to see me as a mermaid again and the tub seemed like a much safer option than the lake. You know, since you're a grown man who can't swim."

Ben starts unbuttoning buttons and unzipping zippers right away, even as she keeps talking about how they should get him signed up for an adult Pawnee Porpoise swim class through the Parks and Recreation Department.

He thinks he agrees with her, he's not sure. To be honest, he's not really paying attention. Ben just really wants to get in there with her. He's still processing this magical realism turn that his life has taken, of course, but right now he can't wait to get into a big tub with his sexy and naked mermaid girlfriend--especially when her mother is nowhere nearby.

"Uh, sorry about..." as he strips his boxer-briefs off, he kind of gestures down to where he's already sporting a fairly obvious semi-erection. "This is just really...I mean, I um, kind of have a _mermaid thing_ , well, you know. I like mermaids. _A lot_. Well, one particular mermaid. And this is--"

"Really doing it for you?"

He nods eagerly. "Is that okay?"

"Yeah. That's perfect," she responds, giving him _that_ look--the one that practically gets him the rest of the way hard.

"Oh, thank god." Ben steps into the water and then stretches out in the tub next to her. It's a huge and gently curved soaking tub, which he thinks totally makes sense if you're a secret freshwater mermaid. Of course you'd want someplace comfy to kick back and unfurl your tail at home.

"Hi."

"Hi," Leslie answers, wasting no time in pressing her lips to his.

Her breasts are full and slippery in his hands and she shivers when he brushes his fingers over her nipples. As they kiss, Ben can feel it everywhere. Yeah, they definitely have a connection. It's like their bodies are tuned to the same frequency or something.

Eventually, the slow making out and grinding against each other is almost getting uncomfortable, but Ben doesn't really mind. He's touching and kissing a fucking mermaid, he doesn't care how blue his balls get before they get out of the tub and her...parts come back and they can actually have sex, because this is completely amazing. Like mind-blowing, real life, fantasy-level fulfillment.

It seems as if she's getting antsy too, and Leslie turns away from him, so her back is to his front. A bit of water sloshes over the sides of the tub at the movement, but she doesn't seem to care.

"What's happening?"

Instead of answering, she takes his hand and slides it from her side, over to where the swell of her ass should be, and then down a little further as she leans forward at the waist.

"Holy shit," Ben gasps, as his fingers lightly press against a very familiar space. "When you're like this, you still have a..." they haven't really discussed what sexy terms to use yet in bed, so he finishes with, "vagina?"

She starts giggling, but then she starts to moan as he continues to rub along her tail and explore her below the water.

"Oh god. This is amazing. Can I see it?"

Leslie turns and gets up a little, so she's up on her knees (or at least where her knees would be) and bends forward to rest her hands against the edge of the tub.

Yeah, there's definitely a slit there.

Ben can feel his eyes widen as he reaches forward to touch her again. Experimentally, he slides a finger inside where she's all hot and wet. He can't resist and soon, he's leaning in closer and licks where his finger was, along the soft and shiny mermaid skin, where she's all spread open and starting to turn pink.

Ben isn't sure where her clit is in this new arrangement, but he works his tongue all over her just in case, his fingers touching and pressing, or even just rubbing and gripping as he licks and kisses. She tastes like lavender and Leslie and possible impossibility.

When Leslie pushes back and gasps, he smiles against her. He definitely found something there. He works his tongue against the little nub and she moans in response. He keeps his lips and mouth on her until he feels her come, shuddering and gasping his name. And if he wasn't about to go crazy with desire before, he's really there now.

_Fuck._

Ben pulls away, completely fascinated, watching the light pink deepen in hue and spread out along her lower back.

"Am I doing that? Making you change color again."

" _Mmmmm-hmmmmm_ ," Leslie answers all breathy.

"And dark pink means..."

"That we're doing this. Right _fucking_ now. In the tub. I mean, if you want to? Like this?"

"Oh god. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes."

She's bent over still and Ben finds if he pushes up close behind her and spreads his knees, he can line himself up perfectly with Leslie's mermaid cunt. Ben presses into her slowly, watching himself as he slips inside.

"Is this--"

She interrupts his question with a low and enthusiastic moan.

It takes him a few slow and experimental thrusts and then it all clicks together like magic. Bending forward he can press his lips to her back, her shoulder, and anywhere else he can reach, nibbling lightly when he finds a soft and tempting fleshy part, all as he thrusts inside.

After a minute or two, though, Ben discovers that porcelain is not really the best surface for this position and it's starting to get a little painful. He's also pretty sure that even if Leslie technically doesn't have knees right now, it's probably not much more comfortable for her either.

Plus? Doggie-style in a bathtub with a mermaid seems super kinky. Not that he couldn't get into that (he definitely could), but right now, it's not exactly what he wants. Ben wants to see and touch more of her than he can like this.

He doesn't have a fully formed plan when he wraps his arm around her waist, straightens up, and takes Leslie with him, but he somehow manages to stay snuggled inside. But then, Ben slips out momentarily as he falls back on his ass. Leslie ends up lying back against him and laughing but it only takes a couple of exploratory pushes after she lifts her hips up a bit and rests the end of her tail outside of the tub, until he's pressing in deep and rocking his hips into her, where her butt would be if she weren't all wet and in a bathtub.

And now in this new position, there's even a comfy bath pillow he can rest his head against on the tub's edge.

"Whoa." She sounds kind of impressed.

"Yeah. That was pretty awesome, although...we lost a lot of water over the edge." It's worth it though, because now Ben can kiss her neck and touch her breasts and he wastes no time doing both of those things. Ben can only imagine how amazing this would be with more room, like in a lake. Yeah, even though he'd be safe with Leslie there, he really needs to learn how to swim.

"That was _so_ awesome!" Leslie pants out. "You just flipped us over like a mysterious and aquatic Phantom of the Opera or something! _Mmmmmmm_."

He laughs briefly at her unexpected compliment but then it feels too good again to do anything but grunt and moan. Leslie's already gasping and squirming on top of him when he locates her clit again, and then she's making noises he's not sure he's ever heard before--low throaty whines that make his balls tighten and his hips speed up.

Her wet blonde hair is in his face but he doesn't care. Ben just licks and sucks the skin of her neck and continues to palm a wet, slippery breast as Leslie comes hard, her walls contracting around him as the end of her tail twitches, and it all sends him over the edge right along with her.

* * * * *

"Just so you know...I've never done that before. I mean, I've had sex before of course, but not with someone in water when I was a mermaid," she tells him as they stretch out on her bed.

They're still naked, but all warm and dried off and Leslie's legs are tangled up with his under her light blue sheets and a floral comforter.

"Really?"

"Well, with a human. I've had sex as a mermaid before, but just with a _merman_."

Ben feels his mouth drop open. "There are mermen too? Seriously?"

"Oh, yeah," Leslie nods. "But they're kind of elusive, so humans hardly ever see them. They like to stay down deep and be emotionally unavailable and withholding," she shrugs and continues. "But you know, you have a few too many fermented fish balls at an underwater gala and the next thing you know, you're getting busy with a jerky merman behind a limestone formation."

"Oh," Ben nods, starting to laugh. "Sure. All the time."

Now she's giggling too. "Well, not all the time. _Once_. His name was, well, let's just call him...Mark, so I don't hurt your ears. It was a few years ago. He was kind of--"

"A dick?"

"Yeah," she nods, nuzzling her face into the crook of his neck. "He swam to Lake Michigan last year. Relocated. But, honestly, I usually stick to dating on land. Not that it goes much better."

"Until now," Ben says, entwining his fingers with hers under the covers and kissing the top of her head.

"Until now," Leslie agrees.

**Author's Note:**

> Future scene: [scroll down](http://nutriyumaddict.tumblr.com/post/158600071994/8-24-48)


End file.
